Page 143 of This Blood That Breaks Us

I cried because I missed them. I cried because I hated Her. I cried because I loved Her. I cried because I was so fucking angry. I cried because I wanted to go home.

This wasn’t home. It may have been my destiny, but that didn’t make it home.

Her voice was in my head again.

You had to keep fighting for control. I’ve given you so many opportunities to let go.

“Leave me alone,” I said.

This is what you wanted, isn’t it? Luke will be with you forever.

“No. Not like this.”

You said you wanted to keep Luke and your brothers safe. What if this is the only way? The one true path.

“Shut up!” My scream echoed in the empty stairwell, and I made my way back to the maze.

They did this.

They took my brother from me.

And they needed to pay.

My favorite emotion was coming back to me. That’s when I knew the queen’s blood had affected me. Because all that had been frozen solid burned. No flickering flame, but a sudden inferno. A silent vengeful rage filled my body from head to toe. So quick I had no control. That’s who I was. Rage. Destruction. Vengeance.

New plan. I would kill them. Every. Last. Fucking. One. And I didn’t care how long it took.

She was a false god, and I would not rest till I tore Her fucking throat out.

Forty-Seven

Zach

Fuck this place.They wanted to see a lunatic? I’d give them one. They wanted to keep me here? Fine. But I was tired of being a pawn. I was tired of being controlled.

I knew where I was going the moment I got up off the ground. No one feared me. Their mistake. I wasn’t surprised. The only people who knew me were already gone. Lost to Her. Well fuck that and fuck Her.

There was a carton of gasoline in the flower garden shed. I had half a mind to set the whole garden on fire and the castle with it, but they’d catch on too quickly for that. I had another place in mind. After snagging a bottle of liquor from The Underground, I made a beeline for the old church.

The grass was wet with dew as I made my way across the field. It left my shoes and pant legs soaked and my feet freezing. The moon mocked me, and I flipped off the stars as I swallowed a mouthful of liquor.

A singular light in the bell tower of the old church shone. That same light that was always on taunted me. The gasoline sloshed next to my side as I picked up my pace. Wind kicked up the salt from the air, and the mist wet my face. At least it wasn’t raining yet.

Her voice found its way to me like a siren at sea.Why are you so angry? This is all your fault.

Could She feel the lighter in my pocket? Did She know I was about to let that place burn? I’d need to hurry. I kicked open the door, and it cracked and fell in a flurry of dust on the floor. I thrust off the cap of gasoline and poured it over the floor. The pews. The walls. The stairs. I smiled as I drenched that stupid fucking mural. Her blood melted into a concoction of black and gray paint at my feet.

She called to me again.You keep holding on.

How was this for letting go? This whole building was a lie. I stood at the doorframe. The smell of dry wood soaked with gasoline burned my eyes as I reached into my pocket for my lighter.

You’re causing your own problems. Wallowing in your own guilt won’t help you. You need to accept this. This is the person you need to be. Let go, Darling. Let the anger take you.

The edges of my lips curled into a smile.Careful what you wish for.

I struck the lighter and flicked it a few feet in front of me.

The floor turned into flames, and I stumbled back as the heat flooded my senses. For the first time in months, the warmth carved its way into my body again. The weight brought me to my knees as I stared up at the cracked and burned wood. Flames raged in a cascading inferno that reached up into the night sky.